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My curiosity has been piqued lately by Bing's "Scroogled" campaign. The premise is that if you're using the Google Shopping product, you're now seeing paid search results, and the advertisers who bid the most come out on top. Vendors who don't pay to participate aren't listed at all, even though they might have a better price or be a better match to your search query. Bing, however, doesn't use paid shopping results, giving you more options to find what you want at the price that works for you.

Bing is doing a great job of directly addressing the competition here. They've drawn attention to an important but oft-forgotten weakness of Google, and shown how their product has strength in this area.

Your Takeaway

As you strategize for 2013, think about your competition. You've researched them and you know more about them than anyone else. What do you wish your customers knew about them? Conversely, what do you wish your customers knew about you? What's the one thing that would bring them to your side every time?

Try some free-writing. Open up a blank document and just write all of this out. Now you have a basis for your next ad campaign.

Pro tip: If you're going to name names in your ads, make sure that what you're saying is factual. Otherwise, you may be subject to a lawsuit. Bing points to Google's own SEC filings and press announcements to back up its story.

Here's the latest "Scroogled" ad from Bing. Happy Holidays!

Does that free-writing exercise I suggested give you the shakes? Let me know, and we can work on it together.